[CEEDS] Design Edition Spring 2013

Hidden dangers of
FOOD ‘DESIGN’
|
|
Designing for the future: a
LIVING BUILDING at the
MacLeish Field Station
Smith’s
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
over time
[CEEDS]
Spring 2013
Educating in support of
environmental decisions
and action
The Design Edition
INSIDE
+ Northampton’s storm water system
+ Staff spotlight: Reid Bertone-Johnson
+Tasty recipes
+ Coastal management design
and more...
[CEEDS]
Design
Spring 2013
Savoring the fruits of their labor
Architect Bruce Coldham (left) and Smith engineering student Jake Pecht (center), both on the
Bechtel Environmental Classroom Programming Committee, enjoy a moment together with
CEEDS intern Renee Ricci (right) at the Fall 2012 opening reception for the new building.
[content]
features
16 Reid Bertone‐Johnson: A Life for Design
22 The Making of a Living Building at the
MacLeish Field Station
curriculum
14 Student Design at the Field Station
24 Planning for the Future: Coastal Zone
Management on Ambergris Caye, Belize
smith events
10 Sustainable by Design...
15 Field Station Fridays
highlights
6 Breathing Room: Are you Affected by
Indoor Pollution?
7 Beauty and Usefulness: How Smith’s
landscape came to be
12 Planning for a Re‐design of a Century
Old System
28 Soy Ahoy! Hidden Dangers of Food
‘Design’
CEEDS Design 3
[CEEDS] magazine is produced by:
The Center for the Environment,
Ecological Design, and Sustainability
A special thanks to all those
students, faculty, and staff
who contributed to this issue.
CEEDS Interns
Stefanie Cervantes ‘13
Hannah Hurvitt ‘13
Elizabeth Wright AC ‘15
CEEDS Staff
Joanne Benkley
Sara Kirk
Cover photo by Reid Bertone-Johnson
Emil Evans (MHC)’14, Gayelan Tietje-Ulrich ‘13,
and Sophia Geller ‘13 discuss potential design
spaces at the MacLeish Field Station during their
LSS 255: Art & Ecology class
Photos at right by
Sara Kirk,
Joanne Benkley,
and Reid Bertone-Johnson
All Rights Reserved
4 CEEDS Design
[Editor’s Notes]
It’s in our name.
This year as we all sat discussing the topic of design and how it related
to the work of the Center for the Environment, Ecological Design, and
Sustainability, it became quickly obvious that like environment, design
can be seen to touch nearly every aspect of our lives. The way we
design our interactions with our environment not only affects whether
the air and water are clean, but whether the places and spaces we live
and play in are safe and healthy. For many of us, the environment is our
home and work place. Their ‘design’ involves everything from where we
decide to settle down, to what we put inside our homes and bodies, to
the means by which we get all those goods and services.
Design is all around us.
This issue of our magazine addresses a range of topics on the design of
our environment as defined by our student contributors. The pieces
range from design experiences in the classroom to problems being
faced by our local communities and discovered in our food system, they
talk about design choices that continue to inform and challenge us, and
underlying it all, about how Smith is empowering its students to think
forward: to design and act with sustainability in mind.
As always, we don’t pretend to be experts; rather, we are Smith stu‐
dents and staff who care about the way we interact with our world and
each other and we want to share some of the many ways we experi‐
ence our community engaging with design.
We hope that you enjoy it.
Joanne Benkley, Assistant Director
Stefanie Cervantes ‘13, Student Editor
(CEEDS)
CEEDS Design 5
[Highlight]
Breathing Room
Are You Affected by Indoor Pollution?
G
ROWING UP, MY FAVORITE DAYS
were those when I would come
home to the smell of incense laced
with undertones of original Pine Sol
and Windex. My mother would be baking cook‐
ies after having cleaned the house. She had also
earned herself a cigarette, smoked indoors of
course. My father would come rumbling up the
drive in a diesel truck and burst in the side
door, typically smoking as well. Depending on
the weather, my
father would start
a roaring fire from
wood he had cut
himself. It was
pure bliss.
Fast for‐
ward to my life
now. I walk into
my little apart‐
ment and typically
inhale
deeply,
pleased with the
aroma of my life.
No, I can’t smell
any garbage, and
yes, by the smell
of it, I have taken a
shower this morn‐
ing‐‐ the smell of
my body wash still
lingers in the air. I
have an unused
candle that gives
off a curiously
strong fragrance. I have to say that I enjoy that
quite a bit. How could I have known that what I
was enjoying was actually the smells of indoor
pollution?
Fragrance has been linked to nostalgia,
able to call to mind memories long forgotten. It
can evoke emotion. That “new car smell,” the
6 CEEDS Design
smell of fresh paint when the house has been
updated. These, along with a host of others, are
fragrances that are actually red flags, meant to
alert us to the dangers of toxic chemicals that
linger in the spaces around us. The smell of a
cleaning product is not supposed to over‐
whelm, it is supposed to smell clean. Shouldn’t
“clean” also mean odorless?
As an earth‐conscious individual, I use
“green‐friendly” cleaners and make sure to
open the windows in
my space in order to
bring in fresh air and
clear out all of the ol‐
factory assaults that
I’ve unleashed. These
measures help make
the design of my life
healthier.
Unfortunately,
there are a host of in‐
door pollution issues
that are just beginning
to be talking about in
the mainstream me‐
dia. No longer is it
wise to breathe deeply
when you smell clean‐
ing products. Is there a
chance that all fra‐
grance of any kind
should be yanked out
of any living or work‐
space immediately, if
not sooner? The scary
things that have recently been unearthed about
the damaging effects of these chemical com‐
pounds have me questioning my own space
and whether I thought things through carefully
enough when I made certain purchases. All I
wanted was to design my surroundings to be
more “homey;” to do things the way my mom
always did. I now know that pollution can exist
indoors.
When I think about pollution, I typically
picture enormous, belching smokestacks tower‐
ing above a cityscape in my mind. I think of cars,
and CO₂ emissions and dirty fossil fuels. Maybe I
am the last to know, but I have been shocked to
discover that the most dangerous airborne toxins
are the ones that also happen to be floating in‐
visibly through our homes and workplaces. Right
now. That new carpet that you love oh, so much,
is giving off chemicals you have never heard of.
Maybe you chose to furnish your home with dark
wood of an unknown origin. Who really cares
what it is made of, if it meets your expectations
for design? As a population that spends, on aver‐
age, more than ninety percent of its time in‐
doors, we must learn to be more careful in
choosing the items that we surround ourselves
with, as they may unexpectedly contribute to our
future ill health.
The point is, that in order to make con‐
scious, informed decisions on how to design the
space we inhabit, we must take some measures
to make sure that we are not making some of the
same mistakes we have made in the past. As the
world evolves, so must its inhabitants.
Since pollution is not limited to emissions
that we can see, we must take a more active role
with regards to the indoor space we create—
educating ourselves about potential dangers and
then paying attention to the environmental cues
that can alert us to them. Some of these cues in‐
clude odors like cigarette or wood smoke, or
perfume‐all obvious signs that there are poten‐
tially harmful chemicals in the air we are breath‐
ing. We can combat existing indoor pollution by
remembering to open windows and regularly air
out our indoor spaces. Houseplants can add a
touch of color and warmth to a room even as
they act to filter our air. As we update our fur‐
nishings or buy new products we can also use our
purchasing power to demand safer alternatives.
While some of the chemicals smells I en‐
counter indoors can still evoke nostalgic memo‐
ries, now that I’ve learned the potential dangers
they represent, I’m taking steps to more mind‐
fully design a home that is safe for both me and
the environment. +Elizabeth Wright AC ‘15
Major Contaminants Types
and Tips to Avoid Them






Biological contaminants: To discourage
mold, mildew and other moisture-loving
fungi from gaining a foothold, make sure
that the space that you live in has less than
50% humidity and is below 72ºF. Clean your
space regularly to keep it free of visible dust
and dander.
Upholstered furniture and pressed wood:
When purchased new, many such products
emit formaldehyde, a carcinogen that can
also cause eye, nose, and throat irritation,
fatigue or even severe allergic reactions.
When shopping, look for formaldehyde-free
furniture and wood products to avoid these
dangers.
Electronics: Products made with plastics that
contain polyvinyl chloride can emit phthalates, which have been linked to hormonal
abnormalities, endocrine disruption and
reproductive problems. Plastics also contain
flame-retardant chemicals, which have been
linked to neurobehavioral changes in animals. Once the chemical odor dissipates, you
should be fine, but be sure to clean the area
around any new electronics often.
Paint: As they dry, all paints emit Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOCs), which can
cause headaches, nausea, or dizziness. Paint
strippers, adhesive removers, and aerosol
spray paints can also contain methylene
chloride, which is known to cause cancer in
animals. Whenever possible use low-VOC
paints to limit exposure and ventilate the
spaces well.
New carpet: Sadly, there are several VOC
compounds that a new rug or carpet can emit.
The only way to avoid them is to either ask
for a low VOC type of carpet, or to keep the
windows open for a few days, preferably
with a fan on.
Glues and adhesives: These can also give off
nasty VOCs, such as formaldehyde, acetone
or methyl ethyl ketone. These fumes irritate
the eyes and can also affect the nervous
system. To lower your risk of exposure look
for water-based, formaldehyde-free glue.
CEEDS Design 7
[Highlight]
Beauty and Usefulness:
How Smith’s landscape
came to be
can expect Smith to do every day
or season without fail: brew
coffee at every meal, keep the
library open late during exam
period, and post those scary
little yellow signs that say the
grass has been treated every on projects across the United States and Can‐
ada. His principle of preserving the natural
landscape and incorporating that into the
spring.
surrounding buildings and structures was a new
According to the College’s 2010 Sustainability way of thinking. He used these very principles
and Climate Action Management Plan (SCAMP), in his design of the national park system,
several city parks, and college campuses,
Smith applies about 25,000 pounds of
synthetic, and 3,500 pounds of organic fertilizer including Smith.
Olmsted’s vision for Smith’s landscape
between the months of April and October every
year, producing a wonderful landscape full of was to ensure that all the aspects of the envi‐
flowers to take pictures of but grass that you ronment came together to create a particular
effect for each individual. He designed the
can’t roll around in.
Why does Smith spend so much time, campus such that individuals had to walk
money, and energy on landscape? It goes back though open lawns and beautiful gardens as
they moved from building to building. Walking
to 1893, when Fredrick Law Olmstead submit‐
paths were intertwined with the landscape and
ted his final landscape plan to the college. Olm‐
built structures so that users would be
sted was recognized as one of the great land‐
surprised at every turn. Olmsted was also a big
scapers and designers of his time, and worked
There are certain things that you
8 CEEDS Design
View of the Wilson Bulb Bank
proponent of using native plants and features
to make the planned landscape seem as natural
as possible. He, like President Seelye, wanted
the landscape to be useful as well as beautiful,
and sought to create a campus that students
and visitors could enjoy visually as well as inter‐
act with.
Smith College has used these principles
and design since, periodically updating them
with the times, but overall adhering to Olm‐
sted’s original plan. In 1996, Smith issued an
official statement with its Landscape Master
Plan. The statement itself is long, but it essen‐
tially articulated the desire to keep beauty,
tradition, and usefulness the prime directive in
maintaining the landscape. Over the year’s the
College has diligently used the principles of
preservation, restoration and rehabilitation to
create and maintain a landscape that is pleasing
to those who encounter it .
Not only does Smith want to continue to
adhere to the original Olmsted principles, it
wants to improve upon them by increasing
aspects of education, social interaction, and
cohesiveness. In recent years, landscape educa‐
tion has been bolstered by efforts in the
curricular enhancement program administered
by the Botanic Garden. This program has
enabled faculty across the disciplines to inte‐
grate natural design into their courses. A net‐
work of identification tags on trees and plants
allows a regular, more informal educational ap‐
proach. The Master Plan also laid out plans for
areas that would provide individuals opportuni‐
ties to socialize with others while in a natural
environment. These two first aspects are
CEEDS Design 9
Students Amanda Morgida ‘16 and Eliza Mongeau ‘16 enjoy a warm spring day on Chapin Lawn.
making the third a concrete possibility; cohe‐
siveness is necessary in the landscape to en‐
sure a theme of natural feel and clear inten‐
tion: usefulness and beauty.
There are, however, challenges inherent
in maintaining the beauty and usefulness of the
campus. Facilities Management and the Botanic
Garden are together responsible for maintain‐
ing the grounds. Olmstead’s plan assumed that
Smith would always be able to afford the labor
and supply costs of maintaining the landscape
he dreamed of, but the campus has grown far
beyond its original scope. Smith is trying to
maintain its beautiful Olmstead plan, but doing
it in ways that may not be sustainable. Accord‐
ing to SCAMP, maintenance of the Smith land‐
scape requires about 2.1 million gallons of wa‐
ter each year (we currently use potable water),
most of the machinery used is powered by
10 CEEDS Design
fossil fuels, and, as noted earlier, fertilizers are
widely used.
Olmsted never had to account for issues
like sustainable maintenance or resource use as
he promoted his design ideas. The pressure of
maintenance and landscape cost and sustain‐
ability has forced Smith to look in a new direc‐
tion. Facilities and the Botanic Garden are con‐
stantly looking at new techniques, increasing
composting, and even beginning to limit grown
lawn areas. Students have also gotten involved
and have established a student run community
garden that uses organic farming methods on a
small plot on campus.
No one can be sure exactly what
Smith’s landscape will look like in the future,
but it is certain that it will still be beautiful and
useful. + Stefanie Cervantes ‘13
Photo Credits: Stefanie Cervantes
[Smith Events]
Sustainable by Design...
Over Family Weekend in Octo‐
ber, our second annual cider
pressing event introduced
students, their families, and
passers‐by to the magic of
turning locally grown apples
into fresh cider. All told we
pressed 36 bushels of apples
donated by Clark Brothers
Orchards and served over 800
cups of fresh cider.
Photo Credits: Joanne Benkley and Renee Ricci
CEEDS Design 11
[Highlight]
Planning for a Re-Design of a
File photo by Mark M. Murray / The Republican
Century Old System
Mark Lussier, with son Rowan, 6, on his shoulders and daughter Charlotte, 8, all of Holyoke, walk beside a flooded por‐
tion of Route 5 near the Northampton and Easthampton line last summer after the remains of Hurricane Irene blew
through.
I
T IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION that
waste water from our toilets, showers,
lawns, and driveways goes to a treatment
plant for cleaning before being released
into the Connecticut River. In reality, only the
wastewater from inside our homes receives this
treatment. Stormwater runoff from yards,
buildings, roads, parking lots, sidewalks, snow
melt, and gas stations does not receive any
treatment before being released into natural
bodies of water such as lakes, streams and wet‐
lands.
The City of Northampton’s stormwater
system is a complex network of 3,750 catch ba‐
sins and 108 miles of pipes –that runs literally
right under our feet. Some of the water pipes
are made out of brick and are large enough to
stand in. The average age of the system is 70
12 CEEDS Design
years old, but there are areas that have not
been replaced since they were built almost a
century ago. Northampton also has a levy
system built by the Army Corps of Engineers in
the 1940’s that protects much of the downtown
along Main, Pleasant and Conz streets from the
Connecticut River floodplain. These systems to‐
gether enable the City of Northampton to cope
with winter storms, rain events, and seasonal
flooding from the Connecticut and Mill Rivers.
Recently, Northampton has been faced
with the challenge of re‐designing and upgrad‐
ing its aging wastewater infrastructure. Starting
last year, pressure to comply with the Environ‐
mental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act
and Federal Regulatory standards began to put
many towns and cities around the county to the
test. These municipalities have to find the
paradisecitypress.org
money to upgrade, redesign, and replace their
WHAT COULD BE IN THE
stormwater and flood control systems in order to
STORMWATER?
not only meet the terms of the new standards, but
also to mitigate storm damage to public and private The DPW’s stormwater system does not clean
property as the number of storms per year in the or treat water before discharging it. Some of
the pollutants that are commonly found in
United States continues to rise.
The hitch is this – our current wastewater stormwater are:
• Oil, gasoline, antifreeze, heavy metals
system is hugely dilapidated. It will cost Northamp‐
•
Pet waste
ton a projected 95.6 million dollars over the next 20‐
year period to do all the work that state and federal • Fertilizers and pesticides
• Dirt and debris
regulations require. In the next five years alone, the
• Salt and sand
Northampton Department of Public Works will
• Soaps and detergents
require 33 million of that total to start on the most • Leakage from dumpsters and grease storage
urgent fixes.
In order to deal with this seemingly insur‐
mountable challenge, Northampton is considering
implementing of a new stormwater fee, which
would be controlled and administered by a newly
formed utility company – the Northampton Storm‐
water and Flood Control Utility. This utility would be
much like a water or electric company service; they
would charge a monthly fee to residents in
exchange for the constant monitoring, maintenance,
and repair of the city’s drainage and flood control
HOW CAN WE HELP
systems. This would create, for the first time, a dedi‐
WITH STORMWATER ISSUES?
cated source of revenue to fund future improve‐
ments to drainage and flood control systems. Reduce the flow of rainwater and snow melt
running into the street from your property:
“Chicopee and Westfield are among the local com‐
munities that already bill users of their stormwater
system,” noted Edward S. Huntley, Northampton’s  Divert runoff from pavement, roofs, patios
and pumps to grassy, gravel, planted or
Director of the Department of Public Works.
wooded areas of your property.
The fee would be similar to the water and
sewer bills that now go out. Charges would be based
 Use rain barrels to store extra water to use
on impermeable surface area per acre, but the ini‐
for irrigation.
tial estimate of $66 per month for a single‐family
house could increase over time.
 Build a rain garden to absorb storm water.
For the time being, money for the impending
project will come from 20‐year federal bonds, as  Use permeable pavers or pavement that
there is no immediate way for the money to come
allows rain and snowmelt to soak through
from Northampton’s tax base. The hope is that with
your driveway and walkways into the
the creation of the wastewater utility, the city will
ground.
be able to establish the funding base for capital
improvements as they are needed, and ensure that  Use natural alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
the wastewater systems in place can meet or exceed
pollution regulation going forward –with the ulti‐
 Control soil erosion on your property by
mate goal of having the least impact on the water‐
planting ground cover and stabilizing
ways that we all live along.
erosion-prone areas.
+ Hannah Hurvitt ‘13
CEEDS Design 13
[Curriculum]
Student
Design at
the Field
Station
The main function of
the trail we designed was to
prevent cars from driving too
far into the property, thus
keeping the impact of motor‐
ized traffic to a minimum and
helping the proposed building
meet the standards of the
Living Building Challenge: a
sustainable, resilient building
functioning in and alongside
its surrounding environment.
By having to reach the
building via an 800‐foot
wooded trail, visitors to the
Field Station would be experi‐
entially grounded in the envi‐
ronment surrounding the
OR THE FINAL
living building. We therefore
project of my land‐
decided that it was important
scape studies studio to design a trail that would
course LSS 255: Art & provide those visitors with
Ecology, I teamed up with four moments along the way that
classmates to design a trail at highlight the views and won‐
the MacLeish Field Station derful features of the forest
which could lead visitors from and pasture that the Field
the parking area to the Station has to offer.
entrance of what is now the
Our finished design
Bechtel Environmental Class‐
guides visitors through a
room building.
section of pine, hemlock and
F
14 CEEDS Design
black cherry forest marked by
a series of choreographed
moments, which include
crossing one of the property’s
streams over a bridge and
stepping stones, providing a
look at one of two vernal
pools on the property, and a
look‐out point, which provides
a view of the pasture and
mountains beyond.
Our design was imple‐
mented last summer, when it
was cleared and constructed
by student interns. It has been
satisfying indeed to see our
idea realized and know that
we’ve contributed in a lasting
way to design at Smith.
Working on this
project gave the five of us the
incredibly valuable experi‐
ences of navigating the
demanding process of
constructing a living building,
and especially in staying true
to the “personality” of a site
throughout the design
process. +Sophie Geller ‘13
Want to learn more about all of the
exciting “green” events and
initiatives happening at Smith
and within the Five College area?
+ Bookmark our
FIELD STATION FRIDAYS
Take a breather from the hustle
and bustle of campus life on us!
Explore the MacLeish Field Station, take a
+ Follow our blog
hike on our trails, hang out on the Bechtel
Environmental Classroom patio, read on
our swing, or whatever strikes your fancy.
Vans leave campus every Friday during
lunch and return before dinner.
Calendar Of Green Events
smith.edu/greencalendar.php
smithceeds.wordpress.com
+ “Like” us on Facebook
facebook.com/SmithCollegeCEEDS
+Follow us on Twitter
twitter.com/SmithCEEDS
CEEDS Design 15
[Feature]
Reid BertoneJohnson
A Life for Design
From working with the city of Northampton to
managing the MacLeish Field Station, BertoneJohnson is actively engaged in helping design a
more sustainable world. [Editor’s note: This profile was written for
ENG 135, prior to the Fall 2012 completion of the Bechtel Environmental Classroom.]
A
T FIRST GLANCE, SMITH COLLEGE’S
Ada and Archibald MacLeish field sta‐
tion in West Whately, Massachusetts
seems like a typical college field sta‐
tion with a noble but standard mission “to foster
field‐based education and research that pro‐
motes environmental study and experiential
learning in a forested and agricultural land‐
scape.” However, on a chilly afternoon in Febru‐
ary, the reason MacLeish is much more than the
average field station becomes clear as manager
Reid Bertone‐Johnson leads a tour intended to
appeal to a different group of Smithies. Gestur‐
ing toward a small clearing, Bertone‐Johnson
declares the field to be “fair game” for the
coursework of a trio of art students designing
outdoor installations. In addition to being a ha‐
16 CEEDS Design
ven for scientists, engineers and landscape de‐
sign students, MacLeish is intended to embody
the liberal arts spirit of Smith itself, as well as
the personal spirit and vision of landscape stud‐
ies lecturer Reid Bertone‐Johnson.
“I feel like a city mouse,” laughs Lynne Yami‐
moto, the art faculty member leading this spe‐
cial studies class. And she’s right; this is not ex‐
actly the typical setting for an art class. The
group walks warily up an unpaved road covered
in thick, loose mud. Clods of it cake everyone’s
shoes as they try not to slip. Her students point
out certain features of the wooded trail and ad‐
jacent fields, bouncing ideas for projects off
each other. Bertone‐Johnson interjects with
ideas and suggestions of his own, clearly excited
by the blending of art and nature.
Photo Credit: Stefanie Cervantes
Reid Bertone‐Johnson has always been
pulled—or perhaps torn—between the arts
and science. As a student at Tufts University,
he dabbled in photography and poetry, was a
member of an a cappella group, and gradu‐
ated one credit shy of a minor in dance. How‐
ever, he majored in Geology and Environ‐
mental science. The son of two scientists, from
a family he describes as “a long line of
PhD’s” (“I have a lowly masters” he laments,
adding with a hint of sarcasm, “I have two
though.”), Bertone‐Johnson felt pressured by
his parents, who were financing his education,
to pursue a degree in science. Turned off by
the competitive nature of the medical field, he
decided on geology because it seemed like
“the friendliest science.”
Even as he began working as a profes‐
sional landscape architect, Bertone‐Johnson
knew he wanted to re‐enter academia. He be‐
gan working concurrently at a design firm,
Dodson Associates, and the Library of Ameri‐
can Landscape History. In 2007, Bertone‐
Johnson began working for Smith College
where he currently lectures for the Landscape
Design Studio in the landscape studies pro‐
gram and manages the MacLeish field station
for CEEDS. Bertone‐Johnson has tied his two
positions at Smith together by having his Land‐
scape Design Studio class work on design pro‐
jects like the trail system for MacLeish.
Other Smith classes have also
made use of MacLeish’s bounty. Dance classes
have been held in the fields, and soon, Smith
students of all disciplines
will have a place to incor‐
porate the environment
into their studies. With
Bertone‐Johnson’s influ‐
ence, what was expected
to be a basic scientific
field station has begun to
incorporate the liberal arts mission of Smith
College itself.
As manager of MacLeish, Bertone‐
Johnson performs a wide range of tasks, from
basic upkeep to overseeing the development
of a new trail system and building. While giv‐
ing the tour to the art students, Bertone‐
Johnson stops to check the batteries in a time‐
lapse camera and examine progress by the
construction crew. They are building
MacLeish’s new Bechtel Environmental Class‐
room, where his office will soon be located.
Bertone‐Johnson proudly points beyond the
site to a clearing where an outdoor classroom
pavilion, a wild garden of edibles, and a grove
of aspen trees will be located once construc‐
tion is completed.
“All the ways in which we are able to
engage students in the process” of developing
the new features of the center are the most
exciting aspects of MacLeish for Bertone‐
Johnson. The pavilion was designed by a Smith
“I didn’t want people to be able to get
the best view from the building. . . . I
wanted them to have to work for it.”
Bertone‐Johnson’s conflict between his
career path and his personal interests did not
end there. After he received his bachelors
from Tufts in 1997, Bertone‐Johnson earned a
Master of Education degree from Harvard Uni‐
versity in 1998 and began a five‐year stint
teaching Earth Science, Environmental Science
and Wilderness Survival at Amherst High
School. He enjoyed working with his students,
perhaps more than teaching the scientific ma‐
terial itself. However, when he met the
woman who would become his wife, he found
it hard to make teaching his top priority. “I
learned to teach as a single man,” Bertone‐
Johnson explains, and was used to devoting all
of his energy to his students. When he got
married in 2003, he decided to “hit the reset
button on [his] career trajectory.” Seeking a
creative outlet for his natural science back‐
ground, he earned a second Masters degree in
landscape architecture from the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst in 2006.
18 CEEDS Design
Reid Bertone-Johnson leading an art class on a tour of the field station.
student, and it was this project that inspired the
S.D. Bechtel Jr. Family Foundation to fund the
field station’s classroom. According to Bertone‐
Johnson, they were intrigued by the extent of
student involvement and the clear vision for
MacLeish. The permaculture garden of edible
plants is also a student design project.
The new building will be located near the
top of an incline, but not quite at the peak. The
building’s large windows will face the side of the
hill. Bertone‐Johnson explains that the place‐
ment of the structure away from the prime vista
was intentional. “I didn’t want people to be able
to get the best view from the building. . . . I
wanted them to have to work for it.”
This concept of “working for it” is evident
in another aspect of the building’s placement.
When the construction crew is finished, there
will be no vehicular access to the building for
guests. With the exception of disabled guests
and emergency vehicles, visitors to MacLeish will
Photo Credit: Nancy Cohen
have to walk a trail through the woods approxi‐
mately 800 yards long to reach the building.
They will have to experience nature.
When the tour group first got to
MacLeish, a grinning older man walked straight
up the dirt path, greeted them, and began talk‐
ing shop with Bertone‐Johnson. Bertone‐
Johnson described him as the land’s “de facto
steward” during the years when Smith was not
doing anything with it. He introduces himself
simply as Pete. His familiar, collegial manner sug‐
gested that he was an employee, but in reality,
he is a volunteer and MacLeish’s closest
neighbor. To this day, Pete greets visitors and
keeps Bertone‐Johnson apprised of any suspi‐
cious activity. Bertone‐Johnson maintains that
one important aspect of his job at MacLeish is
being a liaison between its neighbors and the
college.
CEEDS Design 19
The relationship between MacLeish’s
neighbors and Smith College has a somewhat
rocky history. In the 1970s, Smith College pur‐
chased individual parcels of land from resi‐
dents. According to Bertone‐Johnson’s account,
many of the sellers felt duped when it became
clear that as a college Smith was not required
to pay property taxes for the land. The people
of Whately challenged the college’s right to
claim tax‐exempt status on the grounds that it
practices discriminatory admission procedures
by only admitting women. Bertone‐Johnson
notes that this is both a classic example of
“town versus gown” litigation, as well as the
first time Smith’s right to be an all‐women insti‐
tution was challenged in court. Smith College
won the case, but to this day, Bertone‐Johnson
reports that neighbors tend to be wary of
Smith’s activities on the land.
Bertone‐Johnson looks out for them,
though. When Smith’s administrators, or as
Bertone‐Johnson calls them, “College Hall,”
proposed sitting the new building right in the
middle of Pete’s view of the landscape, Bertone
‐Johnson pushed back. Because Pete had taken
responsibility for the land for so many years,
Bertone‐Johnson felt that “it really would have
been a slap in the face [to Pete].” Bertone‐
Johnson succeeded, and Pete’s view remains
pristine.
In addition to smoothing out tensions
between the college and MacLeish’s neighbors,
Bertone‐Johnson has to come to terms with the
destructive powers of Mother Nature. These
powers are illustrated by the seemingly endless
net of serpentine vines that cover the trees at
MacLeish. Winding up trunks and down
“We aren’t competing with
Harvard for a research field
station…. For [MacLeish]
to really be Smith’s, it has
to be more.”
20 CEEDS Design
branches, they are al‐
most beautiful, but
deadly to the trees they
climb. The vines are
Asiatic Bittersweet, a
pervasive,
invasive
plant that is an enor‐
mous threat to trees all
over New England. Here
at MacLeish, Bertone‐
Johnson has found
vines upwards of 6
inches in diameter.
When asked if this
seemingly unstoppable
assault on the forest
made him feel hopeless
in a way, he pointed out
that the Bittersweet
problem provided an
opportunity to learn
about invasive species,
and for students and
faculty to test innova‐
tive ways of deterring
their spread. Likewise,
when asked what the
greatest issue for future
generations is, Bertone‐
Johnson
r e p l i e d ,
“Facing environmental
challenges with hope.”
Bertone‐ John‐
son finds such opportu‐
nity all over MacLeish’s
grounds. Toward the
end of the tour, he
breaks away from the
trail and walks a few
feet into the snowy
brush. He lifts a particu‐
larly beautiful vine. Ac‐
tually, he explains, it is
two vines: a native
grape vine and an invasive Bittersweet. The
two vines braiding around each other look like
two snakes battling their way to the top of an
ancient maple. Bertone‐Johnson plans on hang‐
ing this vine in his new office in the Bechtel
Reid Bertone-Johnson empties a bucket of sap into a
storage container during the 2013 maple sugaring
season at the Field Station.
Photo Credit: Stefanie Cervantes
Environmental Classroom. A little farther
down the trail, he shows us a swinging chair
hung from a tree looking out over the coun‐
tryside and the mountains beyond. Bertone‐
Johnson built this swing himself, inspired by
the swing by Paradise Pond on Smith’s main
campus. He tells the group about making
grape jelly from the grapes at the center last
year, and harvesting wild apples from a
neighbor’s cherry‐picker. When asked about
the strangest or most exciting occurrence at
MacLeish during his tenure there, he shrugs,
then adds, almost as an aside, that he once
helped a neighbor save his dog from a
flooded lead mine.
The art students seem impressed.
Immediately after the tour is completed,
they begin making plans to return. Involving
them with MacLeish may be Bertone‐
Johnson greatest service to the environ‐
ment. By putting students and faculty from
non‐science disciplines in a beautiful, natu‐
ral setting, Bertone‐Johnson is creating a
new group of environmentalists. He is giving
Smith artists a chance to be inspired by na‐
ture and learn how they can incorporate it
into their crafts. Nature can become as es‐
sential to their work, too, as it is for land‐
scape professionals and environmental bi‐
ologists.
Reid Bertone‐Johnson’s enthusiasm
for the future of MacLeish is contagious. He
emphasizes the uniqueness of the MacLeish
Field Station, and what it means for Smith
College. “We aren’t competing with Harvard
for a research field station,” he declares,
adding that MacLeish is also dwarfed by the
enormity of Williams College’s field station:
“They have land in three states.” But the
natural haven that he is building for both
liberal arts and science students distin‐
guishes itself from the rest. “For [MacLeish]
to really be Smith’s, it has to be more.” Like‐
wise, for this career to really be Reid Ber‐
tone‐Johnson’s, it had to be—and is—more.
+Janet Burke ‘13
CEEDS Design 21
[Highlight]
The Making of a
Living Building at
the MacLeish
Field Station
As humans grapple with the enormity
of climate change, there is continuing global
conversation about what actions we should and
should not take. As this debate begins to filter
deeper into all levels of society, designers,
builders, and inhabitants alike find themselves
thinking about the potential changes that can
be made in the built environment. Various ap‐
proaches have already been taken from sealing
up inefficient window frames to completely re‐
thinking the priorities of a building in society.
One method has been to establish green build‐
ing certifications which attempt to create
boundaries to define how we should or should
not build. The most recent addition to this arse‐
nal of certifications is the Living Building Chal‐
lenge.
The Living Building Challenge provides a
“framework for design, construction and the
symbiotic relationship between people and all
aspects of the built environment,” and is com‐
prised of seven performance areas, or ‘Petals’:
Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity
and Beauty. Petals are subdivided into twenty
imperatives, accounting for different aspects of
the building design.
When the Center for the Environment,
Ecological Design, and Sustainability decided to
build a classroom at the field station in
Whately, Massachusetts, the design team
needed to choose what route to take. With the
construction of the Bechtel Environmental
Classroom, Smith has decided to try to address
some of the greatest issues involved in con‐
structing new buildings in an already stressed
22 CEEDS Design
and overcrowded landscape. The classroom’s
characteristics are not solutions, but elements
of a larger project. Below is a list of the Living
Building petals (underlined) with a brief de‐
scription of the way the new Bechtel Environ‐
mental Classroom currently strives to achieve
them.
SITE: Located just outside a wetland buffer
zone, this classroom is situated on previously
disturbed land that was clear‐cut forty years
ago and re‐vegetated primarily by invasive spe‐
cies. Smith is working to place nearly 200 acres
of land (approximately 80% of its field station
property) under conservation restriction.
WATER: There are two principal waste water
management plans: blackwater effluent is
eliminated through the use of composting toi‐
lets that turn human waste into a resource;
greywater effluent passes through a septic tank
and into a leach field where it percolates
through porous soils into the water table,
thereby completing a closed loop water system.
There is no water in the mechanical systems of
the building. Water from our well is reserved
primarily for drinking and hand‐washing.
ENERGY: This high performance building ��
requires very little electricity, and sources what
energy it does need from a 10 kilowatt/hr array
of highly efficient photovoltaic cells. The build‐
ing’s heating and cooling needs are minimized
because of super‐insulation‐ the building has a
12‐inch thick double‐stud and dense packed
cellulose insulated roof, and triple‐glazed kryp‐
ton filled windows. Remaining heating and
cooling needs are handled by two highly effi‐
cient single port air‐sourced heat pumps. The
instantaneous water heater is set at a low
110ºF and is only used intermittently.
Health: Large, usable windows provide fresh
air, daylight, and views to the Holyoke Range,
Hog Mountain, and Grass Hill. Mechanical ven‐
tilation systems are triggered by rising carbon
dioxide levels when people enter the building.
MATERIALS: The lumber comes from local and
sustainably managed forests (within 50
miles). No harmful materials or toxic chemi‐
cals were used anywhere in the building. For
example, instead of using PVC piping, alterna‐
tives such as recycled and recyclable HDPE
were used. The College paid a one‐time
$3,000 fee to offset the carbon produced dur‐
ing construction of the building.
EQUITY: This classroom is a “building‐in‐
nature,” a small structure tucked into a folding
landscape. Exterior spaces are open to all at all
times. Tree grafting sculptures by local artist
Dan Ladd, marked trails, and easy access to
the surrounding fields and forest encourage
interaction with the natural and managed set‐
Photo Credit: Reid Bertone-Johnson
tings around the building. None of the existing
trails are officially wheelchair accessible, how‐
ever approximately 1.5 miles could be up‐
graded to full accessibility with additional
funding.
BEAUTY: The classroom has been used by
classes in a range of disciplines such as dance,
biology, and Jewish Studies– embodying the
multidisciplinary philosophy of a liberal arts
education. The two tree columns that grace
the multi‐purpose room are harvested from
the property, thus recalling the acres of forest
just outside. Student engagement and projects
animate the slowly unfolding landscape.
As evidenced by petals such as equity
and beauty, design is a blurry concept. Actual
physical structure is important in facilitating
these goals, but the realization of them
depends on our investments and actions. This
building is part of a Living Building Challenge,
which inspires us to remain mindful of the de‐
sign imperative as we program and use our
building +Emma Brown ‘13 and Clarissa Lyons
‘13
More information about the Living Building Challenge
can be found at: http://living‐future.org/lbc
CEEDS Design 23
[Curriculum]
Planning for the Future
Ambergris Caye, Belize is in danger of
putting its natural resources at risk as
a result of tourism. Can a Coastal
Zone Management Plan help?
Photographs by L. David Smith
CEEDS Design 25
I
n Fall 2012, students in the capstone semi‐
nar for the Environmental Science and Pol‐
icy major were asked to develop solutions
to real‐life environmental problems faced
by the community of Ambergris Caye, Belize.
My partner and I proposed a renewable energy
farm on the Caye, and, although fossil fuel‐free
electricity is important, I realized afterwards
that there were more serious, even life‐
threatening issues that we had missed as a
class. I decided to take on a special studies pro‐
ject during my last semester at Smith in order to
further explore the issue of development.
Ambergris Caye is a small island off the
northern coast of Belize. The Mesoamerican
reef, the largest barrier reef in North America,
lies just off‐shore. On the island, there are man‐
grove forests, lagoons, and turtle nesting sites;
all of which add ecological, cultural, and eco‐
nomic value to the island and country. Taken
together, these features have made the island a
popular tourist destination. Unfortunately, the
increased demand for resources is straining the
local ecosystems.
The island only has one small town, San
Pedro, which for a long time housed most of the
locals and tourists. Recent increases in tourism
and workers to support those tourists have re‐
sulted in an expansion of the town and creation
of suburbs, and have led tourists to the pristine
white beaches further from town. The rate of
26 CEEDS Design
development and lack of planning during this
process has resulted in many new hotels and
resorts being built in areas that were once
dense forests and important nesting sites for
turtles and other local fauna. Not only has this
development led to a loss of biodiversity, but
competition for pristine views have led to plans
for further development in areas of great cul‐
tural and historical value, such as World Heri‐
tage Sites and the Bacalar Chico Marine and
Wildlife Reserve on the northern part of the is‐
land.
There are major threats to the island, its
inhabitants, and the neighboring reef as a result
of this rapid and unsystematic development,
including sedimentation, ground water deple‐
tion, and loss of open space. Sedimentation
from Ambergris Caye is a hazard to the nearby
barrier reef; when amounts of waterborne sedi‐
ment are too high it can kill coral tissue and dis‐
turb the delicate balance of life on the reef.
Ground water depletion is already of concern to
the island because many residents, hotels, and
resorts get the water they use for flushing toi‐
lets and showering from wells. The spike in de‐
mand for these purposes has already led to a
decline in the water table. The increased num‐
ber of structures and hard surfaces has com‐
pounded the problem by making it difficult for
rainwater to be absorbed back into the ground
and recharge the aquifer. Not only is there a
shortage of water, but the salinization of fresh
water can occur when increased usage disturbs
The eastern shore of Ambergris Caye is
highly developed with hotels, resorts,
and private homes for vacationers.
All of the developments require docks and
piers since it is almost impossible to get to
northern part of the island by land.
the equilibrium pressure of salt and fresh water,
thus rendering the whole aquifer unsuitable for
even those needs it currently meets.
In my search for answers to these prob‐
lems, I spoke with all sorts of people from real
estate agents on Ambergris Caye to the Director
of Planning and Sustainability for the city of
Northampton. I discovered that many areas, es‐
pecially islands, have had these same problems
and have created “coastal zone management
plans” to combat them. According to the state
of Massachusetts, these management plans are
intended to prevent coastal hazards, such as
threats to public safety, property, and environ‐
mental resources. I used these same principles
to establish a “Coastal Zone” for Ambergris
Caye; a first step to creating a long‐term plan for
the island. The proposed coastal zone for the
Caye encompasses an area where most of the
current development sits; it is about seven miles
long and 800 feet inland from the shoreline and
starts just north of San Pedro. I used current
zoning codes as a baseline for my proposed
plan. Some of the major changes include in‐
creasing setbacks for structures and creating a
vegetation buffer, so that runoff can be ab‐
sorbed and buildings have a natural protective
barrier during storms. I also propose a decrease
in structure density in order to decrease the
number of impervious surfaces and allow rain‐
water to percolate back into the aquifer. In addi‐
tion to these suggestions, I am also recommend‐
ing that basic services, such as electricity and
drinking water, be provided on site where possi‐
ble. For example, electricity could be generated
with solar, and water could be obtained from
above‐ground rainwater catchment systems.
These regulations would only apply to
the proposed “Coastal Zone,” but I am also pro‐
posing that the island reclassify or remap the
area outside this zone. Development on the
Caye seems likely, so to keep it sustainable over
the long term it should be limited to this small
area, which still has undeveloped lots. The land
outside of this zone consists of dense forests,
mangroves, and freshwater lagoons, all natural
resources that provide services to island inhabi‐
tants, such as storm protection and wildlife
habitat.
The environment of Ambergris Caye is a
haven of natural beauty– the very thing that at‐
tracts tourists to the island. Why would anyone
want to destroy it and replace it with a built en‐
vironment of luxury resorts? Although my pro‐
posal is not a complete Coastal Zone Manage‐
ment Plan for the island, I believe it can be very
beneficial as residents work to address the cur‐
rent mode of development, even at this small
scale. My plan certainly leaves many things,
such as piers, docks, and transportation unad‐
dressed, but it does begin to name unplanned
development as the major problem it is, and
provides some starting guidelines for the com‐
munity. +Stefanie Cervantes ‘13
CEEDS Design 27
[Highlight]
Soy Ahoy!
The Hidden Dangers
of Food ‘Design’
T
here is usually a point in most peo‐
ple’s lives at which they attempt to
make a lifestyle change and begin
making more of the “right” choices
when it comes to food. Often this leads people
to a diet of more whole food, meat substi‐
tutes, and fruits and veggies.
During my childhood, my family often
ate, without question, whatever we purchased
‐whether in a can, box or pouch. As a result, I
learned to take food labels at face value.
When I went through my vegetarian phase in
my teens, I ate enough soy and veggie burgers
to offset the carbon footprint of an entire herd
of livestock many times over. Unfortunately, it
never occurred to me to think about what the
ingredients were that kept my soy burgers,
snack cakes, boxed pastas and canned veggies
so fresh for extended periods of time. It was
food as far as I was concerned—it had a pic‐
ture of food on the cover, didn’t it? That used
to be enough for me. It wasn’t until college
that I learned to question how our food is
designed. It was then that I became aware of
some of the many hidden ingredients that
manufacturers use to prepare our food– addi‐
tives to make processed food taste better,
lower fat content, or produce an expected tex‐
ture.
My first foray into more informed eat‐
ing began as a result of reading an article
about dangerous chemicals in food I’d always
considered healthy. In it, the reporter detailed
how a food and agriculture nonprofit found
28 CEEDS Design
that most non‐organic veggie burgers
currently on the market are made with the
chemical hexane, an EPA‐registered air pollut‐
ant and neurotoxin. To my mind this takes
food processing to a whole new level: to pull
out the unwanted components of the soy‐
bean, namely the oil, and to then give the soy
a more “meaty” texture, the soybeans are
given a hexane bath. Cornucopia Institute sen‐
ior researcher Charlotte Vallaeys says, "If a
non‐organic product contains a soy protein
isolate, soy protein concentrate, or texturized
vegetable protein, you can be pretty sure it
was made using soy beans that were treated
with hexane" (Mother Jones 2010). And if that
isn’t bad enough, it turns out that we consum‐
ers can’t rely solely on product labels to stay in
the know about what is in our food and guide
our choices. According to current label laws,
products like the soy burgers described above
that are labeled ‘made with organic ingredi‐
ents’ may still contain hexane; it is only when
it is labeled “organic” that you can be sure that
they’ll be hexane‐free.
Whether these types of chemicals acci‐
dentally enter the food chain or are purpose‐
fully added, there seems to be a safety issue
here. One way I’ve started to deal with this
uncertainty is to question every claim made by
food manufacturers. I’ve also started to make
more of my own food from scratch. Now that I
know a little bit better what to look for, it is
becoming much easier to make more in‐
formed, healthy choices along my journey.
+Elizabeth Wright AC ‘15
Homemade Quinoa Masala
Burgers*
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
½ cup quinoa dry (cook to package
instructions)
1 baked sweet potato, skin removed
1 egg slightly beaten or 1 T flax seed
mixed with 2 T water
A few springs of fresh cilantro,
chopped
1 small onion diced
2 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ t sea salt
½ t garam masala
½ t curry powder
¼ t mustard seed
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
melted coconut oil for brushing burgers
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Wright
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF
Combine all ingredients and mix in a
large bowl
Form mixture into 8 patties
Place patties on parchment paper
on a large baking sheet
Brush top of burgers with a small
amount of coconut oil
Bake for 15 minutes, then flip burgers
and coat with coconut oil again
Bake for another 15 minutes or until
golden brown
*Recipe is from http://foodbabe.com
CEEDS Design 29
There are many ways to get involved with environment,��design, and sustainability
issues here at Smith. Stop by CEEDS and talk with us about how you can take part
in the growing movement. We are happy to answer questions about what is going
on and how you can get connected ‐ to relevant classes within the Five Colleges,
student orgs, faculty resources, research opportunities, community organizations,
and more…
CEEDS is open Monday through Friday
8:30am to 4:00pm
Wright Hall room 005, garden‐level
OR
visit our website at www.smith.edu/ceeds